With You
by Gijinka Renamon
Summary: The aftermath of a cruel twist of fate... And those involved feel the pain caused by it... WARNING: MAJOR GAME SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! May also have some OOCness.


With You

Disclaimer: I own neither Fire Emblem nor the song "With You" by Linkin Park. I just really like both of them.

Warning: This songfic contains a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, **_VERY _**big spoiler for Chapter 28 of Eliwood's Story! Do not read if you have not gotten to that chapter, or don't care about spoilers! You have been warned!

NOTE: I changed Nil's linesbecause I disliked how they turned out. I also made a few other changes.

Key:  
_**Dreams/Thoughts/Memories

* * *

**_**_He watched as the dragon loomed in front of him, its heavy wings beating softly. Slowly, he drew his sword and brought it to chest level as it burst into flame. Then, holding up his blazing weapon, he leapt at the beast and brought it down. _**

**_Time seemed to slow down as he struck the beast's underside, then landed on his feet. The dragon gave out a roar of pain before it collapsed on its side. He stood there, watching the creature's motionless form as if it would rise again to attack him._**

_**Then the laughter began. High, cruel laughter that instantly made his blood run cold. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. **_

"**_How does it feel?" an evil voice taunted him, "to know that the girl you loved was struck down by your own hand?"_**

**_Terrified, he spun around in time to see the dragon's form shrink. He watched as the scales melted and ran together to form a sea green silk dress. The wings retracted into the body, and long, icy blue-green hair sprouted from the head. In an instant, the dragon's body had been replaced by that of a young woman's. _**

_woke up in a dream today  
To the cold of the static / and put my cold feet on the floor  
Forgot all about yesterday  
Remembering I'm pretending to be where I'm not anymore  
A little taste of hypocrisy  
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake / slow to react  
Even though you're so close to me  
You're still so distant / And I can't bring you back_

**_His heart seemed to stop as he dropped his weapon to the ground and ran to the girl's side. His breath coming raggedly now, he turned her over and put his arms under her shoulders to lift her up, ignoring the blood that stained his clothes a bright crimson._**

"_**N-Ninian!" He cried, "Please! Wake up!" **_

_**Two ruby-red eyes slowly flickered open.**_

"_**Lord Eliwood. . ."**_

"**_Ninian, I-I'm s-so sorry, I-I didn't m-mean to-to. . ."His voice trailed off as he glanced at the girl, who only smiled at him serenely. _**

"_**It's okay, you didn't know . . . but before I die, I have something very important to say." She took a moment to look into his eyes as she whispered, "I love you. . . Goodbye. . . Lord Eliwood. . ."**_

_**And with that, her whole body convulsed once, before laying still.**_

"**_Ninian? Ninian! NNNNIIIINNNNIIIIAAAANNNN!"_**

_It's true / the way I feel  
Was promised by your face  
The sound of your voice  
Painted on my memories  
Even if you're not with me  
I'm with you  
You / Now I see/ keeping everything inside  
__You / Now I see / Even when I close my eyes _

"AAH!" Eliwood sat up, breathing heavily, and his heart hammering in his chest. "It was just a dream it was just a dream. . . "He whispered to himself.

Eliwood shuddered at the memory of the previous day. Ninian's final words still echoed through his mind.

"_**I love you . . . Goodbye Lord Eliwood . . ." **_

Shaking his head, Eliwood got up and left the tent he was sleeping in. Outside, he found the others had gathered and were talking about yesterday's events.

"So all of that hard work finding Durandal to defeat Nergal was all for nothing!" Exclaimed Guy angrily as he pounded a tree with his fist. "Now what are we going to do?"

Joshua, the group's tactician, grabbed his arm.

"Stop it! Yelling won't help!" he pleaded, fear shining in his blue eyes.

"Stay out of this!" Guy snapped, pushing the younger man away.

Eliwood walked over to the others. "He's still at it, huh?"

Some of the group remaining members jumped in surprise when they heard them.

_I hit you and you hit me back  
We fall to the floor / the rest of the day stands still  
Fine line between this and that  
When things go wrong I pretend the past isn't real  
Now I'm trapped in this memory  
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake / slow to react  
Even though you're close to me  
You're still so distant / And I can't bring you back_

"Yeah," answered Lyn. "It just doesn't feel right. Just when we finally find a way to beat Nergal, we find out that it's pointless!"

"It's like fates' against us," Matthew added sadly.

Eliwood closed his eyes.

"And because of me, Ninian's…" his voice cracked as he was unable to say anything.

Without warning, Hector punched Eliwood in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. The young man lay there, tasting the blood gathering in his mouth.

"Now listen here, I know you're upset, but you got to pull yourself together, got that!"

Eliwood looked up, as he stared silently as his longtime friend.

Lyn ran between them, arms outstretched. "That's enough!" she shouted, "We don't need to be fighting among ourselves!"

The elderly sage Athos nodded as he walked over to them. "Indeed," he said. "Fighting like this will get us nowhere."

"So what do you propose we do?" asked Rath.

"We could always head to Ostia." Florina suggested timidly.

Hector grinned "Good idea! My brother will surely see to it that we're well off."

Lyn nodded. "Okay, who else thinks we should go?"

_It's true / the way I feel  
Was promised by your face  
The sound of your voice  
Painted on my memories  
Even if you're not with me  
I'm with you  
You / Now I see/ keeping everything inside  
__You / Now I see / Even when I close my eyes_

The other members of the 'Army' raised their voices in agreement, except for two.

Eliwood, who had gotten off the ground, and Nils, who sat by himself on a tree stump, his normally bright crimson eyes glazed over.

The young lordknew that Nils was still sad and angry over his sister's death, but whether he had decided to forgive the young lord for his grievous mistake was still unknown, seeing as he hadn't spoken since yesterday.

"Well, it's settled then!" Hector exclaimed loudly, shaking the other lord out of his thoughts. "Were' heading to Ostia!"

The others let off a ragged cheer, then went off to prepare for the journey.

Eliwood watched them leave, and then turned to face the only other person who did not go.

"Nils?"

The boy in question glanced up at him, and Eliwood saw the tear stains that ran down his pale face. Eliwood took a deep breath and continued.

"Nils, about yesterday…I'm really sorry. I hope you can find in your heart to forgive me. I know it's hard, but, truthfully, I loved your sister more than anything. I hope you realize that. And I know she wouldn't want you to be sad."

Then he turned away, hearing nothing from the boy but a few, sadsobs.

_No  
No matter how far we've come  
I can't wait to see tomorrow  
with you_

Later, as the group got ready to leave, Eliwood paused and took one final look at the mountains where everything had gone wrong.

"Lord Eliwood? Is something the matter?" He turned to see Joshua looking at him curiously.

"No, it's nothing." He answered.

Seemingly satisfied, the young man went off to get on his steed.

Eliwood climbed up on his horse, and began leading the army towards Ostia, making a silent vow as he did.

"**_Ninian, I promise, I'll fight for you, and I will win!" _**

_You / Now I see/ keeping everything inside  
__You / Now I see / Even when I close my eyes  
__You / Now I see/ keeping everything inside  
__You / Now I see / Even when I close my eyes  
__You / Now I see/ keeping everything inside  
__You / Now I see / Even when I close my eyes  
__You / Now I see/ keeping everything inside  
__You / Now I see / Even when I close my eyes_


End file.
